By Caroline Smith
Three parishes and several community groups in the suburb of Maylands have recently come together for a workshop on the Protective Behaviours Program, which aims to prevent and guide responses to child abuse.
The workshop was held on Monday 22 May at Our Lady Queen of Poland Church and was attended by local parishioners, as well as those from Our Lady Queen of Martyrs and the Ukrainian-Greek Catholic Parish of St John the Baptist Church.
Attendees also included members of the Maylands Peninsula Primary School, St Columba’s Primary School in Bayswater, and Fo Guang Shan Chinese School of WA, Maylands.
The main activity on the night was a presentation by Safeguarding Project Co-Ordinator Andrea Musulin.
This followed an evening meal provided by Safeguarding Officers Hayley Doan, Sheila Moghan (Ponnosamy) and Sharon Almeida and an introduction by Father Tomasz Bujakowski, from Our Lady Queen of Poland Church.
Ms Musulin said her focus had been to inform the local community of the work being done to protect children from abuse.
“We went over how the Catholic Archdiocese of Perth safeguards children and the 12 standards that are applied at all parishes to prevent and detect offences against children,” she said.
“The second half of the workshop was spent teaching participants the Protective Behaviours Program in the hope that they teach the program and the 10 Teaching Topics to their own children.”
The Protective Behaviours Program is an internationally-renowned program teaching personal safety and the prevention of child abuse, which was developed by Protective Behaviours WA Incorporated (PBWA).
Ms Musulin said she had been impressed by the support provided by the three Safeguarding Officers in attendance, and the work they had done to organise the event.
“They and their helpers went to extraordinary efforts with the catering and hospitality as well as promoting the event in their communities,” she said.
“I am very proud of my Safeguarding Officers and this is a good example of how the Perth Catholic Archdiocese Safeguarding Program work collaboratively to protect and empower children and young people.”
Ms Doan said she had received positive feedback from the workshop, with people asking when there might be another in the future.
“The feedback on Andrea’s presentation was really positive and people came away with a better understanding of what we do inside the Archdiocese around this issue.”